Card sorting device



May 11, 1954 F. c. ERHARD CARD soRTING DEVICE Filed April l5, 1952Patented May 11, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARD SORTING DEVICEFrances C. Erhard, Minneapolis, Minn. Application April 15, 1952, SerialNo. 282,420

(Cl. 12S- 16) 1 Claim. l

This invention relates to a device for sorting cards, or card-likeobjects, into some predetermined systematic arrangement.

In many businesses today, a great number of cards, such as returnpostcards or the like, are received daily, usually through the mail. Inmost cases it is necessary to file these cardsy with the matter to whichthey appertain. In view of the fact that they are received in completelyhaphazard fashion, it is first necessary to sort and arrange them insystematic fashion so that the job of filing, or otherwise classifyingthem, can be simplified. Most frequently, it will be desired to classifythe cards alphabetically, perhaps by the subject to which the cardrelates, or perhaps by the name of the person from whom the card isreceived.

The job of sorting and filing cards has become particularly tedious andtime-consuming in certain bureaus of the United States Government as,for example, the Social Security Bureau. In this bureau many thousandsand even millions of cards are received, and these cards must beclassified alphabetically, so that they may readily be located whenneeded.

It is an object of this invention to provide a device whereby the speedat which such cards may be sorted, and alphabetically classified, may begreatly increased. It is also an object to provide a device whereby thesorting job may be done with less tedium and strain upon the clerk doingthe job. It is also an object to provide a device of compact, easilyhandled size and conguration, which may be easily used and manipulatedby the person doing the sorting. It is also an objective to provide aninexpensive easily constructed device for the purposes above identied.

It is further an object of this invention to provide a device which canvery easily be changed to sort cards in various ways, and into diierentsorts of rclassications; that is, a device which, after having been usedto sort cards alphabetically can easily be changed to sort cardsnumerically, for example.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view ofthe device of this apparatus. Figure 2 is` a side elevational view,partially broken away to show the side of the device lying further away.Figure 3 is a vertical crosssectional view along the line 3-3 ofFigure 1. Figure 4 is a view of a slidable separator element,hereinafter described in detail.

Referring now to the drawings in more detail, the device of the presentinvention comprises a rectangular box, indicated generally by reference2 character 2, said box being provided with sides 3 and 3a, ends 4 and4a, and bottom 5.

Each of the sides 3 and 3a, intermediate its top and bottom, is providedwith slots 6 and 6a which extend along the length of box 2. Said slots 6and Ba are located preferably about midway of the height of sides 3 and3a, and, also, both slots are preferably located at the same height ontheir respective sides. However, the particular location of the slots isa matter of choice, and may be changed without departing from the spiritof this invention. Inserted within each slot 6 and 6a are a plurality ofslidable separator elements 1, each of which is constructed in identicalfashion, as follows:

Each of these separator elements comprises a channel member 8 extendingvertically along the inside of each side 3 and 3a of box 2. Channelmember 8 is amxed, by welding, soldering, or other means, to channelholder element 9, which comprises a sheet of rigid material having endportions I0 and central support portion II. In the particular embodimentshown, element 9 comprises a unitary strip of sheet material folded uponitself in such manner as to provide elements I0 and I I. However, aswill be obvious, the parti-cular construction of element 9 could easilybe modiiied. As shown particularly in Figure 3 of the drawing, supportportion II is designed to rest upon the bottom of slot 6 or 5a., andthus to support channel member 8 in vertical, card-receiving positioninside box 2. End portions I El extend in opposite directions verticallyalong the outside of the sides 3 and 3a of the box, thus: holding theslidable separator element 1 in position. Slots 6 and 6a are of suchwidth as to fit rather closely about support portion II, to prevent thesame from being tilted oil a horizontal plane, and thus tilting channelmember 8 oli' its vertical Each of elements l is freely slidable alongthe length of box 2 in the slot in which it is placed.

When it is desired to separate a group of cards, the elements 1, on eachside of the box, are lined up so that each element, on one side of thebox, will be in opposed relation to an element on the other side of thebox. Separator card I2 is then dropped down into channel elements 8 onopposed separator elements 1. Each end of card I 2 is held within achannel member.

If the cards to be sorted are to be sorted alphabetically, each of theseparator cards I2 is plainly marked with a letter of the alphabet. Ifthe cards are to be separated into some other sort of classification,the separator cards I2 would be marked accordingly.

During the sorting operation all cards which are properly to be classiedalphabetically under the As, are then dropped into the box adjacentseparator card labeled A which, conveniently, might be at the front partof the box.

Similarly, cards which are to be classied under the Bs are dropped aheadof the B cards, etc. After the group of cards being sorted have beenseparated into groups of A cards, B cards, etc., separator cards I2 areremoved and different separator cards are put in. These differentseparator cards Would be labeled AA, AB, A0, etc. Thus the cardspreviously deposited in the A classification may be broken down intofurther alphabetical order. After the A cards are thus completelyclassied, then the B cards may be worked upon, etc.

Each of the separator cards I2 is freely re.- movable from the channel8, so that new separator cards may be inserted inr the device whendesired. Thus one box of the kind herein described may bc used to breakdown a group of cards into complete alphabetical order.

1f a large number of cards are being sorted, it may be desired to usethree or four of the card sorting devices of this invention, lined upalongside one another. One box could be used to sort the cards A-F, forexample, a second box to sort cards G through NL etc. It is preferablethat box 2 be kept under approximately three feet in length, so that theperson doing the sorting will not have to reach too far to find theproper category for the cards. It is preferable that several boxes,rather than one especially long box, be used.

It will be seen that the device of this invention provides a devicehaving great utility for `for its intended purpose, and that it hasgreat flexibility as to the number and kind of cards that may be sorted.It is perfectly-adaptable to take care of the situation where the bulkof the cards being sorted fall under two or three particular letters ofthe alphabet, and it is equally adaptable to sort cards fallingsubstantially equally under all the letters of the alphabet.

Although the invention has been described in connection with certainspecific constructions, it will be understood that the particularembodiment disclosed could be modied in many ways by a person skilled inthe art, without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is to beunderstood that the particular details illustrated and described areintended to be wholly exemplary in character, and that all equivalentsand variations, novel over the prior art, are comprehended, and that nolimitation is intended otherwise than by the claim hereunto appended.

What isclaimed is:

A card sorting device comprising a card holding box having a bottom, twosides, a front and a back, each of said sides intermediate its top andbottom, being provided with a slot extending longitudinally of the side,and parallel to the bottom of the box, card separator elements carriedwithin each yof said slots and slidable along the length thereof, saidcard separator elements each comprising a vertical card-edge receivingchannel shaped portion lying within said box and a support portion formaintaining saidchannel shaped portion in position within said box, saidsupport portion comprising a single strip of rigid material each endportion of which is bent at a right angle to the length of said strip,the central portion of said strip being folded upon itself to pro* videa flange extending at right angles to the end portions of said strip,said flange lying horizontally upon the lower edge of a slot, the endportions of said strip extending vertically along outside of said box,said channel shaped portion being afxed in vertical position to theinwardly extending edge of said flange, and a plurality of separatorcards held extending transversely of said box by'opposed separatorelements.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,382,429 Kunkel June 21, 1921 1,893,186 Thomas et al Jan. 3,1933 1,918,765 Lombardini July 18, 1933 2,169,562 Lombardini Aug. l5,1939 2,229,299 Loucks Jan. 21, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date150,835 Great Britain 1920

